Device and Method for Controlling Idle Mode Discontinuous Reception

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a wireless device and a method, for use in a wireless device, for controlling discontinuous reception, DRX, during idle mode. The method comprises selecting (S 31 ) a default DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a DRX cycle and receiving (S 32 ) from an access node, a first set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRX cycle pattern. The method further comprises determining (S 33 ) reception quality metrics for respective beams and determining (S 34 ), based on the reception quality metrics, a customized DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a subsequent DRX cycle. The customized DRX cycle pattern is applied (S 35 ) in the subsequent DRX cycle to receive a second set of beams.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wireless device and a method forcontrolling discontinuous reception, DRX, during idle mode.

BACKGROUND

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, is responsible forstandardization within the field of mobile telecommunication systems,e.g., for the standardization of the Universal Mobile TelecommunicationSystem, UMTS, and Long Term Evolution, LTE. LTE is a continuouslyevolving technology for realizing high-speed packet-based communicationthat can reach high data rates both in the downlink and in the uplink;LTE allows for a system bandwidth of 20 MHz or up to 100 MHz whencarrier aggregation is employed. In parallel to the LTE evolution, a newgeneration of cellular technology—New Radio, NR, is being developed, aspart of a 5^(th) generation system, 5G. One of the tasks for 5G is toimprove throughput and capacity compared to LTE. This is in part to beachieved by moving to higher carrier frequencies where availablespectrum exists, and increasing the sampling rate and bandwidth percarrier.

In mobile telecommunication systems a wireless device, also known asuser equipment, UE, is wirelessly connected to a radio access node, alsoknown as radio base station, RBS, capable of transmitting radio signalsto the wireless device and receiving signals transmitted by the wirelessdevice.

Future cellular technology, e.g., is expected to use advanced antennasystems to a large extent. With such antennas, signals will betransmitted in narrow transmission beams to increase signal strength insome directions, and/or to reduce interference in other directions. Thebeamforming will enable high data rate transmission coverage also tovery distant users. Beamforming may be used at the transmitter, at thereceiver, or both, e.g., by using a large antenna array at the accessnode and a small number of antennas at the wireless device.

In idle mode in a cellular system, the wireless device need to monitorpaging in order to determine whether there is data to be received. Aspreviously mentioned, NR will use advanced antenna systems containinglarge antenna arrays for data transmission. A use of antenna arrays isnecessary to ensure sufficient link quality in high-frequencydeployments where each individual antenna element aperture is small anddoes not capture sufficient signal energy. Coherent aligning of theantenna elements give rise to effective beam gain and beam directivityin a desired direction. With such antenna arrays, data signals will betransmitted in narrow beams to increase signal strength in somedirections, and/or to reduce interference in other directions. This isdone to obtain enable spatial separation and reduce interference betweenusers to obtain improved link quality.

While usage of large arrays with beamforming is usually viewed as adesirable phenomenon when transmitting data between one or more accessnodes and designated wireless devices, not all types of signals aresuitable for being transmitted employing directive beams. The benefitsof beamforming is absent for information distribution of unsoliciteddata to idle mode wireless devices, e.g., for paging transmission,synchronization signal transmission, or for other types of broadcasttransmissions. For such scenarios, a technique of employing so-calledbeam sweeping is considered where several directive beams are swept overa larger area. The beam sweep is performed by rotating through beams inone or two dimensions, e.g., rotating through beams that are narrow inazimuth and wide in elevation or rotating through beams that are narrowin both elevation and azimuth.

However, there are drawbacks and restrictions also when using beamsweeping. Typically, where beam sweeping is employed, for example bypointing directive beams in an arbitrary order, toward one or morereceiving wireless devices, e.g., during paging, neither the receivingwireless device nor the beam sweeping access node is generally aware ofwhich of the beams in the sweep that is best heard by the wirelessdevice. Consequently, time and energy consumption to successfullyreceive the beam sweep content may be significant.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide solutions which seekto mitigate, alleviate, or eliminate one or more of the above-identifieddeficiencies in the art and to provide solutions for improving energyefficiency in an idle mode wireless device. In particular, the presentdisclosure addresses the problem of accommodating discontinuousreception of beams that are received in beam sweeps from one or moreaccess nodes.

This object is obtained by a method, for use in a wireless device, forcontrolling discontinuous reception, DRX, during idle mode. The methodcomprises selecting a default DRX cycle pattern for controllingoperative instants during a DRX cycle and receiving from an access node,a first set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRX cyclepattern. The method further comprises determining reception qualitymetrics for respective beams and determining, based on the receptionquality metrics, a customized DRX cycle pattern for controllingoperative instants during a subsequent DRX cycle. The customized DRXcycle pattern is applied in the subsequent DRX cycle to receive a secondset of beams.

The disclosed method provides for reducing idle mode energy consumptionby controlling reception so that a DRX receiver may be activated onlyduring customized operative instants of a DRX cycle, i.e., reducingon-time for the DRX receiver.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, the first and second set ofbeams are comprised in respective beam sweeps transmitted from an accessnode with a DRX cycle periodicity and wherein each beam comprises atleast one OFDM symbol.

Thus, the present disclosure is particularly applicable in transmissionsusing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM, as a method ofencoding digital data, and wherein the transmissions are performed asbeam sweeps in one or two dimensions; transmitting a plurality of beamswith different directions in each beam sweep.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, the default DRX cyclepattern is configured to accommodate reception of a plurality of beamscomprised in a beam sweep and the customized DRX cycle pattern isconfigured to accommodate a subset of the beams comprised in the beamsweep.

Thus, the customized DRX cycle pattern may be configured to accommodatea most relevant subset of beam comprised in the beam sweep. Since thereis usually only one or a few beams receivable by the wireless device,adapting the on-time for the receiver to reception to receive one or afew beams allows significant reduction of the idle mode energyconsumption with compromising the ability for the wireless device toreceive information from a transmitting access node.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, each beam comprises paginginformation, unsolicited system information or broadcast information.

Consequently, paging information or other types of unsolicited systeminformation or broadcast information may be received in a narrowreception window that is customized by the receiving wireless devicebased on reception capabilities and requirements.

The above object of the disclosure is also obtained by a computerreadable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executedin wireless device, causes the wireless device to execute any of theabove mentioned aspects.

Likewise, the object of the disclosure is obtained by a wireless devicethat is configured for controlling discontinuous reception, DRX, duringidle mode. The wireless device comprises receiver circuitry arranged forbeam reception during operative instants of a DRX cycle. The wirelessdevice also comprises processing circuitry configured to cause thewireless device to select a default DRX cycle pattern for controllingoperative instants during a DRX cycle and receive from an access node, afirst set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRX cyclepattern. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause thewireless device to determine reception quality metrics for respectivebeams, determine, based on the reception quality metrics, a customizedDRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a subsequentDRX cycle and to apply the customized DRX cycle pattern in thesubsequent DRX cycle to receive a second set of beams.

The computer readable storage medium comprising the computer program andthe wireless device enable the corresponding advantages of thosedescribed above in relation to the method for use in a wireless device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing will be more readily understood from the followingdetailed description of example embodiments, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout the different views. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe example embodiments.

FIG. 1

-   -   a. illustrates transmission of a beam sweep from a network node        having one transmission point.    -   b. illustrates a beam sweep transmitted from two separate        transmission points

FIG. 2 illustrates beam sweep reception in a wireless device

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating method steps performed in a wirelessdevice for embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4

-   -   a. illustrates an example wireless device configuration;    -   b. illustrates an example wireless device configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The apparatusand method disclosed herein can, however, be realized in many differentforms and should not be construed as being limited to the aspects setforth herein. Like numbers in the drawings refer to like elementsthroughout.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects of the disclosure only, and is not intended to limit thedisclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise.

It should be noted that the word “comprising” does not necessarilyexclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed. Itshould further be noted that any reference signs do not limit the scopeof the claims, that the example embodiments may be implemented at leastin part by means of both hardware and software, and that several“means”, “units” or “devices” may be represented by the same item ofhardware.

The various example embodiments described herein are described in thegeneral context of method steps or processes, which may be implementedin one aspect by a computer program product, embodied in acomputer-readable medium, including computer-executable instructions,such as program code, executed by computers in networked environments.

Within the context of this disclosure, the terms “wireless device” or“wireless terminal” encompass any terminal which is able to communicatewirelessly with an access node of a wireless network, as well as,optionally, with another wireless device, by transmitting and/orreceiving wireless signals. Thus, the term “wireless device”encompasses, but is not limited to: a user equipment, e.g. an LTE UE, amobile terminal, a stationary or mobile wireless device formachine-to-machine communication, an integrated or embedded wirelesscard, an externally plugged in wireless card, a dongle etc. Throughoutthis disclosure, the term “user equipment” may sometimes be used toexemplify various embodiments. However, this should not be construed aslimiting, as the concepts illustrated herein are equally applicable toother wireless devices. Hence, whenever a “user equipment” or “UE” isreferred to in this disclosure, this should be understood asencompassing any wireless device as defined above.

In some embodiments the term “access node”, AN, is used and it cancorrespond to any type of access node or any network node communicatingwith a wireless device. In the context of this disclosure, the termaccess node is used to designate a node transmitting beams in a beamsweep to a receiving wireless device. Examples of access nodes areNodeB, base station, multi-standard radio, radio node, eNodeB, gNodeB,network controller, radio network controller, base station controller,relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station, accesspoint, transmission points, transmission nodes, nodes in distributedantenna system, DAS etc.

In support for higher frequencies in New Radio, NR, communicationsystems, beamforming is an essential component. Using antenna arrays ataccess nodes, fairly regular grid-of-beams coverage patterns with tensor hundreds of candidate beams per node may be created. The coveragearea of an individual beam from such an antenna array may be small, downto the order of some tens of meters in width. Outside the beam area,quality degradations may occur quickly due to the limited coverage areaof the beam. Beam sweep procedures are typically employed whereby aplurality of beams, e.g., comprising reference signals used for pagingor synchronization or other type of system information signals, aresequentially transmitted in a respective beam directions from an accessnode.

In order for idle mode operations, e.g., paging procedure not to be thecoverage-limiting factor in the next generation of communicationsystems, the reference signals used for paging and synchronization willtypically also have to use high-gain narrow beams. This means that theaccess node will typically have to transmit the signals multiple times,in different directions, to cover the geographical area to be served byan access node, AN. With some typical antenna configurations envisionedfor the next generation communication systems, sometimes referred to as5G systems, a narrow beam may cover only a small fraction of the entiregeographical area (e.g. 1%) at a time, and consequently it may takesubstantial time to transmit the beam in all directions needed, one or afew directions at a time.

The procedure of sequentially transmitting the beam in all necessarydirections is referred to as a beam sweep or beam scan. “Necessarydirections” here means all directions where coverage is desired. FIG. 1aillustrates a beam sweep comprising beams A-D and transmitted from anaccess node 20 having one transmission point. In the NR systems, it isalso expected that one single access node might have severaltransmission points, as illustrated by access nodes 20 a and b in FIG.1b , where a first access node 20 a transmits beams A-D to a receivingwireless device and a second access node 20 b transmits beams E-F to thewireless device. A beam sweeping procedure is anticipated during pagingof wireless devices or other types of transmission of unsolicited datatoward an idle wireless device, e.g., other types of broadcast systeminformation distribution. In high frequency bands, where narrow beamsmay be required, the beams in a sweep may add up to a substantialnumber. The paging information may be transmitted in one or a few OFDMsymbols per beam.

The methods and wireless device aspects presented in this disclosureaddresses the conflicting demands between wireless device energyconsumption and on demand accessibility to a wireless device, i.e., theneed for prompt and successful communication also with idle modedevices. In particular, the present disclosure reduces energyconsumption in an idle mode wireless device without compromising theability for the wireless device to receive paging information,unsolicited system information and/or broadcast information through areceiver configured to operate in according to a discontinuousreception, DRX, cycle. The basic idea is to configure a wireless deviceto control a discontinuous reception, DRX, set up, so that a receiver inthe wireless device is activated only during the limited number of beamsthat the wireless device is capable of distinguishing in the beam sweep.Thus, a more energy efficient reception procedure is established withina wireless device without jeopardizing the on demand accessibility.

Turning to FIG. 2, discontinuous reception, DRX, in a wireless device isbriefly discussed to further explain the basic concept of beam sweepreception during idle mode. FIG. 2 further details the presentation ofthe beam sweep illustrated in FIG. 1a . The discussion will be made forthe beam sweep comprising paging information; however, similarprinciples are of course also applicable for beam sweeping procedurescomprising transmission and reception of other types of unsolicitedsystem information to an idle mode wireless device. The beam sweep isperiodically performed according to a predetermined cycle, and the DRXreceiver of the wireless device is activated in accordance with thiscycle, hereinafter referred to as DRX cycle.

An access node 20, e.g., an eNodeB or gNodeB, transmits paginginformation in beams A-D with different directions; each beamcorresponding to OFDM symbol sets A, B, C, D. The beams are transmittedin a beam sweep where transmission of beam A occurs in a time instantdifferent from transmission of beams B-D, e.g., in a time instants thatprecedes the time instants when beams B to D are transmitted. The OFDMsymbol set may comprise a single OFDM symbol. An idle mode wirelessdevice 40 is configured for discontinuous reception, DRX, according to aDRX cycle; enabling reception in receiver circuitry during operativeinstants for the receiver. The operative instants recur according to aDRX cycle pattern, e.g., every 100-10 000 ms, determined for thewireless device based on a paging periodicity used by the access node.

At time T1, the wireless device 40 is in a beam direction of beam B.Thus, at T1, reception of beam B would be superior to reception of theother narrow beams A, C and D illustrated for the beam sweep. Asvisualized in FIG. 2, it is unlikely that the wireless device would beable to receive beam D. In accordance with the basic principles of thepresent disclosure, as mentioned above, it would be beneficial from anenergy saving perspective to adapt the DRX cycle pattern (i.e., areceiver-on window) for the wireless device receiver circuitry so thatthe receiver circuitry is active just long enough to receive beam B.FIG. 2 illustrates how a receiver-on window is adapted so that thereceiver is turned on one OFDM symbol set prior to beam B (i.e., for thetime instant of beam A) and turned off one OFDM symbol set after beam B(i.e., for the time instant of beam C). Initially, a receiver window maybe open for reception through the entire beam sweep, but for theillustrated scenario this would still imply receipt of beams A-C at T1.

As will be further discussed and disclosed below, a wireless device atT1 would be able to limit a reception window to just accommodatereception of beam B or to also accommodate reception of a fewneighboring beams.

At time T2, the wireless device has moved and beam B is no longer thebest beam from a receiver perspective, as visualized by the disclosedmetrics. Instead, beam C appears to represent the best beam.Furthermore, beam A is now barely perceivable and does no longercontribute in the communication of paging information. Accordingly, thebeam reception window should now be adapted to accommodate reception ofbeam C and possibly neighboring beams. The determined metrics are usedto determine an updated beam reception window accommodating beams B-Dfrom time T3. The accommodation of beams B-D is enabled by delaying thereceiver-on time relative to a reference time of the DRX cycle, e.g.,the start time for a DRX cycle.

A method for controlling discontinuous reception, DRX, in a wirelessdevice will now be presented. FIG. 3 illustrates, in a flowchart,exemplary operations performed in a wireless device when operating in awireless communication network. The disclosed method provides a solutionfor controlling DRX during idle mode. The wireless device selects S31 adefault DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during aDRX cycle. According to an aspect of the disclosure, an operativeinstant is a beam reception window periodically recurring during a DRXcycle. According to one alternative aspect of the disclosure, thedefault DRX cycle pattern is a state of the art DRX window comprising aplurality of time consecutive operative instants; the state of the artDRX window being activated at a receiver start time and deactivated at areceiver off time or following a predetermined duration, and recurringwith each DRX cycle. Thus, according to this aspect, the wireless deviceinitially receives during the entire DRX window. According to anotheralternative aspect of the disclosure, the default DRX cycle patterncomprises a plurality of operative instants having a temporal durationless than a state of the art DRX window and selected following the stepsof determining S31 a a default timing for receiving beams comprised in abeam sweep during the DRX cycle, and assigning S31 b a start time, and aduration or end time for each operative instant of the default DRX cyclepattern based on the determined default timing. Thus, according to thisaspect, the wireless device determines a first approximate timing, i.e.,default timing, and selects a default DRX cycle pattern by selecting areceiver start time and a receiver off time or receiver duration, basedon the approximate timing. As one example, the wireless device initiallydetects paging signals during an entire DRX paging monitoring window,i.e., DRX window and determines the timing for the best beam, i.e., thetiming for the best sweep direction.

In a subsequent step, the wireless device receives S32, from an accessnode, a first set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRXcycle pattern. Applying the selected default DRX cycle pattern in a DRXcycle, the wireless device receives the first set of beams; the firstset of beams comprised in a beam sweep received from an access node witha DRX cycle periodicity and each beam of the first set of beamscomprising at least one OFDM symbol. As mentioned above, the default DRXcycle pattern is configured to accommodate reception of a plurality ofbeams comprised in a beam sweep. Thus, the present disclosure isparticularly applicable in transmissions using orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing, OFDM, as a method of encoding digital data, andwherein the transmissions are performed as beam sweeps in one or twodimensions; transmitting a plurality of beams with different directionsin each beam sweep.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, reception S32 from an accessnode, of a first set of beams in the operative instants of the defaultDRX cycle pattern comprises receiving the first set of beams over aplurality of DRX cycles. Fractions of an entire DRX window may be sweptin a random or sequential order, so that reception during the pluralityof DRX cycles comprises receiving the first set of beams during at leastpartially non-overlapping subsets of the operative instants. Sweeping aplurality of at least partially non-overlapping fractions of the entireDRX window would result in a beam sweep procedure whereby reception ofthe first set of beams, e.g., all beams in the beam sweep, isaccommodated in the time period corresponding to said plurality of DRXcycles.

Upon receipt of a first set of beams in the operative instants of thedefault DRX cycle pattern, the wireless device determines S33 receptionquality metrics for respective beams. According to an aspect of thedisclosure, each beam comprises paging information, unsolicited systeminformation or broadcast information. Reception quality for respectivebeams may be determined in a number of ways, e.g., by measuring receivedsignal strength for a given beam or information comprised in the beam,e.g., as a set of resource elements in one or more OFDM symbols of thebeam. According to aspects of the disclosure, the determining ofreception quality metrics for respective beams comprises, decoding a setof resource elements in a first OFDM symbol received in an operativeinstant of the default DRX cycle pattern and determining a first metricassociated to the decoding performance. A corresponding set of resourceelements are decoded in at least a second OFDM symbol received in anoperative instant of the default DRX cycle pattern, where the OFDMsymbols may be received in a continuous operative instant having aduration to accommodate reception of a plurality of OFDM symbols, or indiscrete operative instants, each OFDM symbol received in a respectiveoperative instants. A second metric associated to the decodingperformance when decoding resource elements in the at least second OFDMsymbol is determined. Simple metrics that are considered asrepresentative of the decoding performance comprise soft value metrics,e.g., decoding error likelihood estimate of a paging signal. Othermetrics may be determined from a correlation with first known symbols(e.g., with pilot symbols/signals) that are transmitted in some resourceelements, and wherein the metric in this case is related to acorrelation matching performance, i.e., how closely the received signalresembles a known pilot signal.

According to other aspects of the disclosure, the determining S33 ofreception quality metrics comprises receiving beams in the operativeinstants of the default DRX cycle pattern during a plurality of DRXcycles; determining quality metrics for respective beams in each of theplurality of DRX cycles, and determining the reception quality metricsby filtering the quality metrics from the plurality of DRX cycles. Thus,filtering over several obtained first and second decoding metrics may beused in some embodiments in the determining of the reception qualitymetrics.

According to aspects of the disclosure, the first and second OFDMsymbols may be adjacent. However, the disclosed method is alsoapplicable in when beam sweeping is made in two dimensions and in suchinstances the first and second OFDM symbols may very well benon-adjacent. Furthermore, the monitored OFDM symbol sets may benon-adjacent so that the operative instants in the customized DRX cyclepattern are time discrete. Receiver circuitry of the wireless device maythen be switched off between monitored OFDM symbol sets as accommodatedby the applied DRX cycle pattern.

Based on the reception quality metrics, the wireless device performs thestep of determining S34 a customized DRX cycle pattern for controllingoperative instants during a subsequent DRX cycle. In its most basicembodiment, the customized DRX cycle pattern presents an updated time onand time off or duration for receiver circuitry in the wireless device.When the method is initiated using a state of the art DRX window asdefault DRX cycle pattern, use of the customized DRX cycle pattern willimply that the DRX receiver is activated during a shorter time period ofa DRX cycle as compared to the state of the art DRX window. As mentionedpreviously, the beams are comprised in respective beam sweepstransmitted from an access node with a DRX cycle periodicity and whereineach beam comprises at least one OFDM symbol. According to aspects ofthe disclosure, the default DRX cycle pattern is configured toaccommodate reception of a plurality of beams comprised in a beam sweepand the customized DRX cycle pattern is configured to accommodate asubset of the beams comprised in the beam sweep; thereby achieving thebenefits of reduced energy consumption during idle mode of the wirelessdevice. However, if the default DRX cycle pattern has been selectedbased on an initial approximate timing to accommodate reception of beamswithin a time instant determined from the approximate timing, thecustomization of the DRX cycle pattern could also imply an extension ofthe receiver window.

According to other aspect, the determining S34 of the customized DRXcycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a subsequent DRXcycle comprises selecting one or more time intervals in a beam receptionwindow of the default DRX cycle pattern; each time interval beingdetermined by a start time, and a duration or end time; and wherein theselecting is made by a comparison of determined metrics. According tofurther aspects of the disclosure, the customized DRX cycle pattern isdetermined to comprise operative instants to accommodate beams havingqualitatively similar reception quality metrics. Thus, when there are anumber of beams perceived to be received with equal or close to equalreception quality, the customized DRX cycle pattern will comprise alarger set of operative instants as compared to the situation when onebeam is clearly better than the others. According to aspects of thedisclosure, the customized DRX cycle pattern should comprise the bestbeams, i.e., beams qualified to be accommodated through their determinedreception quality metrics. According to further aspects of thedisclosure, the customized DRX cycle pattern also accommodates one ormore neighboring beams of such best beams.

The customized DRX cycle pattern is applied S35 in a subsequent DRXcycle, e.g., the first subsequent DRX cycle for which application ispossible or a later DRX cycle, to receive a second set of beams. Inaccordance with aspects presented above, the second set of beams iscomprised in a beam sweep transmitted from an access node with a DRXcycle periodicity and wherein each beam comprises at least one OFDMsymbol. Applying the customized DRX cycle pattern in a later DRX cycleprovides an opportunity to verify the customized DRX cycle pattern byrepeating the steps of receiving beams in operative instants of thedefault DRX cycle pattern; and determining the reception quality metricsby filtering quality metrics from a plurality of DRX cycles.

According to an aspect of the disclosure a second set of beams arereceived S36, from an access node, in the operative instants of thecustomized DRX cycle pattern when applying the customized DRX cyclepattern in the subsequent DRX cycle to receive a second set of beams.According to an aspect of the disclosure, the customized DRX cyclepattern is used also in further subsequent DRX cycles to receive furtherset of beams, e.g., when the access nodes transmits a beam sweepcomprising paging information.

According to other aspects, the process of determining a customized DRXcycle pattern may also be repeated; either to refine the determinedcustomized DRX cycle pattern further or to allow for tracking of awireless device that is in a mobility state. According to aspects of thedisclosure, the wireless device determines S37 fulfillment of arepetition condition, and when the condition is fulfilled, repeats thesteps of determining S33 reception quality metrics for respective beams,determining S34 the customized DRX cycle pattern, and applying S35 thecustomized DRX cycle pattern, or returning to the default DRX cyclepattern. The repetition condition could be based on wireless devicemobility, determining fulfillment of the repetition condition when thewireless device is stationary or in a low mobility state. The repetitioncondition could also be set to reflect a need for periodic reassessmentof the customized DRX cycle pattern, e.g., that the process is repeatedduring a predetermined number of DRX cycles to verify a previousassessment or according to a specified periodicity. Finally, therepetition condition may be set so that the full process is repeatedwhen the repetition condition is no longer fulfilled, e.g., after apredetermined number of DRX cycles to ensure that the ability to receivethe access node transmission is not compromised. The process is repeatedby reverting to the step of selecting S31 the default DRX cycle pattern.

The disclosed method is foremost intended for a wireless device that isin a state of low mobility, but is not limited to low mobilityapplications. A Doppler estimator or positioning information from a GPSunit in the wireless device could be used to detect the mobility stateof the wireless device. As mobility increases, the need to update thecustomized DRX cycle pattern also increases. Thus, a repetitioncondition as mentioned above comprises a mobility state of the wirelessdevice so that the repeating is performed when the wireless device isstationary or in a low mobility state.

Occasionally, the wireless device may be configured to revert toreception according to the default DRX cycle pattern, e.g., during anentire DRX window in a DRX cycle. The above disclosed process may thenbe resumed.

Notably, the transmission of the beam sweep is from the access node isunaffected by the disclosed method, it is the energy efficientextraction of beams in a receiving wireless device that is addressedthrough the above disclosed method.

The proposed method will now be exemplified with an embodiment where theaccess node beam sweep occurs in one dimension, e.g., as suggested inFIG. 2. The beams of the beam sweep, i.e., OFDM symbol sets, comprisepaging information. When performing the beam sweep in one dimension,each transmitted OFDM symbol set is adjacent to the next OFDM symbolset. Since usually there is only one beam (or a few) that the wirelessdevice can hear, most of the reception window is empty for the wirelessdevice and the long receiver operation at each paging cycle contributesto redundant idle mode power consumption. According to the generalconcept of the disclosure, explained above, the wireless device performsa decoding of information, e.g., decoding the paging information,received from multiple beams in a sweep, computes a metric for each ofthe received beams (OFDM symbol(s)) and adapts a receiver windowposition and/or duration according to the determined metric therebydetermining a customized DRX cycle pattern.

The DRX reception of the wireless device initially follows a default DRXcycle pattern that may be determined from a first paging timing and acorresponding receiver-on time. This determination of the default DRXcycle pattern may be made by a wide search or scan over a large numberof beams and corresponding paging OFDM symbol sets. During the sweep,when the access node steps through a set of narrow beam directions,neither the wireless device nor the access node is generally aware ofwhich of the beams in the sweep is best heard by the wireless device.The DRX window, i.e., the default DRX cycle pattern, must thus bespecified such that the entire beam sweep is accommodated, and thewireless device must receive data during the entire sweep duration. Thedefault DRX cycle pattern is determined as a “receiver-on” time window,e.g., corresponding to a plurality of adjacent time instants, alsodenominated as operative instants, when the receiver is activated toreceive the transmitted beams.

The wireless device then decodes a first set of resource elementscorresponding to paging information in a first and second set of OFDMsymbols received with the default DRX cycle pattern. The wireless devicedetermines first and second metrics for decoded resource elements incorresponding first and second set of OFDM symbols, e.g., by determiningthe reception quality for the decoded paging information or bydetermining a correlation between resource elements corresponding topilot signals used for estimating and equalizing the radio channel forpaging detection.

The computed first and second metric are compared and if the secondmetric represents a better result than the first metric, the wirelessdevice selects a customized DRX cycle pattern to control activation ofthe receiver circuitry during a subsequent DRX cycle. In a scenariowhere one main OFDM symbol set is determined to provide the bestreception quality metric, the customized DRX cycle pattern correspondsto a “receiver-on” wake up time and end time so that the receiver isactivated just long enough to receive the beam of the main OFDM symbolset, and possibly neighboring beams.

In summary, the above wireless device may operate according to the abovedisclosed exemplifying embodiment by:

-   -   initially receive during an entire DRX window.    -   determine the best beam timings in relation to the DRX window        beginning.    -   in subsequent DRX cycles, delay receiver wake-up with respect to        the DRX window beginning and shutting down before the end of the        window; the window is kept open just enough to receive the best        beams (for data reception) and their neighbor beams (for        tracking).    -   after each or some DRX cycle, update the best beam and tracking        info to be used during the next DRX cycle; and    -   occasionally, revert to reception during the entire DRX window        to detect new possible best beam timings.

In accordance with an alternative embodiment, the default DRX cyclepattern could also be implemented by sweeping a plurality of fractionsof an entire DRX window in a random or sequential order. Sweeping aplurality of at least partially non-overlapping fractions of the entireDRX window would result in all non-active beams having been searchedafter a time period corresponding to a plurality of DRX cycles. Whenreverting to reception according to the default DRX cycle pattern, thewireless device could revert to reception in a plurality of fractions ofan entire DRX window to ensure that a reception window, i.e., thecustomized DRX cycle pattern, continues to accommodate a best beam andone or more neighbor beams.

Embodiments of the present disclosure, e.g., as explained with referenceto FIG. 3, are not limited to beam sweeping in one dimension. Inembodiments where the beam sweeping is made in two dimensions, the nextclosest may correspond to a second OFDM symbol set that is not adjacentto the first OFDM symbol set. Hence, the time window may not only beadapted in time, but the length of an operative instant in the RX ontime window may be changed if second metric larger than first metric. Inanother embodiment, due to similar reasons as above, operative instantsof the RX on window may be non-contiguous, i.e., the OFDM symbols setsthat are monitored may be non-adjacent, and the receiver circuitry isswitched off between monitored OFDM symbols sets.

In some of the above examples, the method for controlling discontinuousreception has been described for the example of paging. However, thedisclosure is not limited to paging, but is also applicable to otherbeam swept system information or other control plane informationreception.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the various example embodimentsdescribed herein are described in the general context of method steps orprocesses, which may be implemented in one aspect by a computer programproduct, embodied in a computer-readable medium, includingcomputer-executable instructions, such as program code. Acomputer-readable medium may include removable and non-removable storagedevices including, but not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM), RandomAccess Memory (RAM), compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVD),etc. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of program code for executing steps of the methods disclosed inFIG. 3. The particular sequence of such executable instructions orassociated data structures represents examples of corresponding acts forimplementing the functions described in such steps or processes.

FIG. 4a is an example configuration of a wireless device 40, which mayincorporate some of the example embodiments discussed above. Thewireless device 40 is configured for controlling discontinuousreception, DRX, during idle mode. As shown in FIG. 4, the wirelessdevice comprises receiver circuitry 41 arranged for reception of radiosignals received as beams in a beam sweep from a transmitting accessnode. It should be appreciated that the receiver circuitry 41 may becomprised as any number of receiving units or circuitry. It shouldfurther be appreciated that the receiver circuitry 41 may be in the formof any input communications port known in the art.

The wireless device further comprises processing circuitry arranged tocontrol operation of the wireless device. In particular, the processingcircuitry 42 is configured to cause the wireless device to select adefault DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during aDRX cycle and to receive, by means of the receiver circuitry, from anaccess node, a first set of beams in the operative instants of thedefault DRX cycle pattern. The processing circuitry 42 is furtherconfigured to determine reception quality metrics for respective beams,to determine, based on the reception quality metrics, a customized DRXcycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a subsequent DRXcycle, and to apply the customized DRX cycle pattern in the subsequentDRX cycle to receive a second set of beams.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, the processing circuitrycomprises a processor 42 a and a memory 42 b. The processor 42 a may beany suitable type of computation unit or circuit, e.g. a microprocessor,digital signal processor, DSP, field programmable gate array, FPGA, orapplication specific integrated circuit, ASIC or any other form ofcircuitry. It should be appreciated that the processing circuitry neednot be provided as a single unit but may be provided as any number ofunits or circuitry.

The memory 42 b may further be configured to store received data and/orexecutable program instructions. The memory 42 b may be any suitabletype of computer readable memory and may be of volatile and/ornon-volatile type.

FIG. 4b also illustrates an embodiment of a wireless device 40configured for controlling discontinuous reception, DRX, during idlemode. The wireless device comprises a cycle pattern selection module 421for selecting a default DRX cycle pattern for controlling operativeinstants during a DRX cycle; a beam reception module 422 for receiving afirst set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRX cyclepattern; a metrics determination module 423 for determining receptionquality metrics for respective beams; a DRX cycle pattern determinationmodule 424 for determining, based on the reception quality metrics, acustomized DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during asubsequent DRX cycle; and a cycle pattern application module 425 forapplying the customized DRX cycle pattern in the subsequent DRX cycle toreceive a second set of beams.

The description of the example embodiments provided herein have beenpresented for purposes of illustration. The description is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit example embodiments to the precise formdisclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various alternativesto the provided embodiments. The examples discussed herein were chosenand described in order to explain the principles and the nature ofvarious example embodiments and its practical application to enable oneskilled in the art to utilize the example embodiments in various mannersand with various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated. The features of the embodiments described herein may becombined in all possible combinations of source nodes, target nodes,corresponding methods, and computer program products. It should beappreciated that the example embodiments presented herein may bepracticed in combination with each other.

1.-25. (canceled)
 26. A method, for use in a wireless device, forcontrolling discontinuous reception (DRX) during idle mode, the methodcomprising: selecting a default DRX cycle pattern for controllingoperative instants during a DRX cycle, receiving, from an access node, afirst set of beams in the operative instants of the default DRX cyclepattern; determining reception quality metrics for respective beams;based on the reception quality metrics, determining a customized DRXcycle pattern for controlling operative instants during a subsequent DRXcycle; and applying the customized DRX cycle pattern in the subsequentDRX cycle to receive a second set of beams.
 27. The method of claim 26,wherein: the first and second set of beams are comprised in respectivebeam sweeps transmitted by an access node according to a DRX cycleperiodicity; and each beam of the first set or the second set includesat least one OFDM symbol.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein: thedefault DRX cycle pattern is configured to accommodate reception of aplurality of beams comprised in a beam sweep; and the customized DRXcycle pattern is configured to accommodate reception of a subset of thebeams comprised in the beam sweep.
 29. The method of claim 27, whereinan operative instant is a beam reception window periodically recurringduring a DRX cycle.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein selecting adefault DRX cycle pattern for controlling operative instants during aDRX cycle comprises: determining a default timing for receiving beamscomprised in a beam sweep during the DRX cycle; and for each beamreception window of the default DRX cycle pattern, assigning a starttime and a duration or an end time based on the determined defaulttiming.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein the first set of beams isreceived over a plurality of DRX cycles during at least partiallynon-overlapping subsets of the operative instants.
 32. The method ofclaim 26, wherein each beam comprises one of the following: paginginformation, unsolicited system information, or broadcast information.33. The method of claim 27, wherein determining the reception qualitymetrics for respective beams is based on at least two OFDM symbolsreceived in respective beams, and comprises: determining a firstdecoding metric based on decoding a first set of resource elements in atleast a first OFDM symbol; determining a second decoding metric based ondecoding the first set of resource elements in at least a second OFDMsymbol.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the at least two OFDMsymbols are received in an OFDM reception window associated with thedefault timing.
 35. The method of claim 33, wherein each of the firstand second decoding metrics is determined as a decoding error likelihoodestimate of the set of resource elements.
 36. The method of claim 33,wherein each of the first and second decoding metrics is determinedbased on a correlation matching performance for a correlation of thedecoded resource elements with pilot symbols transmitted in the resourceelements.
 37. The method of claim 33, wherein determining (S33) thereception quality metrics comprises: receiving beams in the operativeinstants of the default DRX cycle pattern during a plurality of DRXcycles; determining quality metrics for respective beams in each of theplurality of DRX cycles; and determining the reception quality metricsby filtering the quality metrics from the plurality of DRX cycles. 38.The method of claim 33, wherein the second OFDM symbol is adjacent tothe first OFDM symbol.
 39. The method of claim 33, wherein the secondOFDM symbol is non-adjacent to the first OFDM symbol.
 40. The method ofclaim 31, wherein: determining the customized DRX cycle based on thereception quality metrics comprises selecting a subset of beam receptionwindows of the default DRX cycle pattern by a comparison of receptionquality metrics determined for the respective beams; and each beamreception window is determined by a start time and one of a duration oran end time.
 41. The method of claim 33, wherein the determinedcustomized DRX cycle pattern includes operative instants thataccommodate beams having qualitatively similar reception qualitymetrics.
 42. The method of claim 33, wherein the determined customizedDRX cycle pattern includes operative instants that accommodateneighboring beams of the beams qualified to be accommodated throughtheir determined reception quality metrics.
 43. The method of claim 40,further comprising: receiving, from an access node, the second set ofbeams in the operative instants of the customized DRX cycle pattern;determining whether a repetition condition is fulfilled; when therepetition condition is determined as fulfilled, repeating the methodfrom the step of determining reception quality metrics for respectivebeams; and when the repetition condition is determined as not fulfilled,repeating the method from the step of selecting a default DRX cyclepattern for controlling operative instants during a DRX cycle.
 44. Themethod of claim 43, wherein: the repetition condition relates tomobility of the wireless device; and the repetition condition isfulfilled when the wireless device is stationary or in a low mobilitystate.
 45. The method of claim 43, wherein: the repetition conditioncomprises a predetermined number of DRX cycles; and the repetitioncondition is fulfilled when the subsequent DRX cycle is one of thepredetermined number of DRX cycles.
 46. A non-transitory, computerreadable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that,when executed by processing circuitry of a wireless device, configuresthe wireless device to perform operations corresponding to the method ofclaim
 26. 47. A wireless device configured for controlling discontinuousreception (DRX) during idle mode, the wireless device comprising:receiver circuitry configured for reception of radio signal beams in abeam sweep transmitted by an access node; processing circuitry operablycoupled to the receiver circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry andthe receiver circuitry are configured to cause the wireless device toperform operations corresponding to the method of claim 26.